Karl-Anthony Towns ‘confident’ he will stay with Minnesota Timberwolves

After the Timberwolves’ season-ending loss (124-103) against the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals on Thursday, Karl-Anthony Towns was quizzed about his future, which has been up in the air for some time.

However, despite the question marks, Towns himself was calm and assured, responding confidently to the reporters keen to know where he would end up.

‘I’m confident that I’m going to be able to be here '

“I’ve been here nine years, I would love for the tenure to keep going”, Towns said on his future.

“I’m confident that I’m going to be able to be here with my brothers and continue to do what I love here at home, so that’s the plan. Nothing’s ever changed on my side, and I love this city, I love this organisation.”

“I’m just happy”, he continued, “after all the years I’ve been here and all the ups and downs, to see the city come together so much for this team, it’s heartwarming. For someone who’s been here, who’s seen both sides, to just see how much love these fans have given us and how much excitement we’ve given them in this playoff run as well, and this season, it brings joy to me. Because, like I said, I’ve seen the other side of it.”

“I think that’s what makes this so disappointing”, Towns added, now getting into a flow, “these fans deserved a chance to see the Finals. I think this team, of course, we feel that we deserved it, we put the work in, but these fans, after all these years, they’ve given us so much this playoff run, this season. It hurts when you feel you let ‘em down. So it’s a tough one.”

Towns, drafted No. 1 overall in 2015, made his fourth All-Star appearance this season. He was asked about the ownership situation at the Wolves, which continues to rumble on. “That’s not for me to worry about,” he said. “My job is to go out there every day and continue to take steps forward as a player and as a person. I can’t speak on that, I can’t control that... 9 years of being a pro-basketball player, the best advice I got was to control what you can control and I’m going to continue to do that.”